Pile fabric



Oct. 9, 1951v G. J. uNDERwooD ErL 2,571,077

PILE FABRIC Filed Feb. 1'1, 1949 INVENTORS ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 9, 1951 PILE FABRIC Garfield J. Underwood, Broadalbin, and Albert J. Ammerall, Amsterdam, N. Y., assignors to Mohawk Carpet Mills, Inc., Amsterdam, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 11, 1949, Serial No. 75,952

6 claims. l

This invention relates to pile fabrics, such as are used for carpets and rugs, and is concerned more particularly with a pile fabric having a pile of ovel construction, which is of unusual appearance and texture and gives excellent coverage of the backing, although containing much less yarn than is required in pile fabrics of conventional weave.

The new fabric is of the Wilton type and has the usual backing, which may be of any ordinary construction and includes stuffer warps, weft yarns in a plurality of levels, and binder warp chains crossing the weft yarns above and mlow and holding them in place relative to the stuifer warps. The binder warp chains are spaced at intervals across the fabric and pile warp yarns lie between adjacent binder warp chains or pairs thereof lying close together. The pile warp yarns are raised between adjacent weft yarns in the upper level to form the pile surface consisting of pile elements, either loops or tufts, in rows extending both weftwise and warpwise of the fabric.

The pile surface of the new fabric has a rough irregular appearance and a distinctive texture and these characteristics of the surface arise from the use of a type of pile yarn wholly different from those heretofore employed. The pile yarn referred to is made of two singles yarns of opposite twist plied together, one of the singles yarns having a greater and the other a less twist than the ply twist. Preferably, the singles yarns are of about the same size and initially of about the same, though opposite. twist. In the plying operation, the singles yarns are twisted together with a twist about the same as the twist of the yarns. As a result, the plying about doubles the twist in one singles yarn and almost removes the y twist in the other. Also, since the plying operation back-twists one component, the fibres in that component open up, so that the component becom-es loose and bulky. In the plied yarn, the component of increased twist tends to kink and cockie and the component of reduced twist wraps itself loosely and irregularly about the other. The plied yarn can be held straight under tension during the weaving, but when the wires, over which the yarn is raised during pile formation, are removed, the pile loops or tufts assume irregular random shapes and positions, so that they cover the backing more completely than ordinary yarns of the same weight. As a result, less rows of pile elements warpwise and less pile elements per weftwise row are required in the new fabric to produce a dense durable pile.

For a better understandingof the invention,

reference may be made to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a View in side elevation of a pair of singles yarns of opposite twist that may be employed in making the pile yarn of the new fabric;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of a length of the pile yarn;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through a portion of one form of the new fabric;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the pile surface of the fabric of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line 6-6 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic longitudinal vertical sectional view illustrating the construction of the fabric in Fig. 3; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are diagrammatic sectional views on the lines 8-8 and 9 9, respectively, of Fig. 7.

The new pile fabric may be made in various constructions and the fabric illustrated is of typical two shot Wilton weave and includes stuffer warps I0, weft yarns il in levels above and below the stuffer warps, and binder warp chains l2 lying in pairs spaced across the fabric and.v holding the weft yarns in place relative to the stuffer warps. In the fabric shown, there are four stuffer warps I0 in each space between adjacent pairs of binder chains but it is to be understood the number of stuiier warps employed and their arrangement, the number and arrangement of the binder chains, and other sucn details may be varied as desired.

In each space above a group of stuier warps and between pairs o-f binder chains in the fabric shown, there is a pile warp yarn B, which is held in place by weft yarns and is raised at intervals along the fabric to provide a pile surface. In the weaving of the fabric illustrated, each pile warp yarn is raised over a wire between a pair of adjacent weft yarns in the upper level, lies buried beneath the next pair, is raised between the third pair, and so on. The wires used are high wires having a height of about .370" as the lower limit with wires of .500" suitable for most purposes. The wires may be of the non-cutting type, so that, upon their withdrawal. they leave pile loops, or they may have blades tosever each loop into a pair of tufts. The pile warp yarns are so raised, that the raised portion of one yarn between a pair of adjacent weft yarns is offset from the raised portions of the yarns on opposite sides thereof. Thus, if one pile warp yarn is raised between the first and second weft yarns, begin.

ning at any point in the fabric, it lies buried beneath the second and third weft yarns, and is raised again between the third and fourth weft yarns. The pile yarns on opposite sides of the first are then buried beneath the first and second weft yarns, raised between the second and third weft yarns, buried beneath the third and fourth weft yarns, and raised between the fourth and fth weft yarns.

The pile warp yarn I3 employed in the new fabric is plied and comprises a pair of singles yarns I4, I5, which are ordinarily both of wool or of a blend of fibres containing wool. Preferably, the plied yarn isrelatively heavy. having a weight between 11 and 35 yards to the ounce. The singles yarns are initially and before plying, of about the same weight and twist, but one yarn is of S-twist and the other of Z-twist. The initial twist of the singles yarns may be about four turns per inch and they are plied together with about the same or a slightly less twist. Thus, singles yarns initially of four turns per inch may be plied together with a ply twist of about 3.6 turns per inch. In the drawing, yarn I4 is of S-twist and yarn I5 is of Z-twist and they are plied together with an S-twist. As a result, the twist in yarn I4 is increased and that in yarn I5 is decreased by approximately the number of turns in the ply twist. Preferably, the initial twist of the singles yarns and the ply twist are such that yarn I4, the twist of which is increased by the plying operation, has so high an ultimate twist that, when relaxed, it cockles and kinks. The increase in twist in yarn I4, accordingly, makes that yarn relatively dense and compact. The yarn I5 is back-twisted in the plying operation and, as a result, this yarn becomes loosely wrapped about yarn I4 and, at the same time, yarn I5 opens up with the fibers separating, so that the yarn is soft and bulky.

When the pile yarn of the type described is employed in weaving and under tension, yarn I4 is stretched straight, so that no diiculties are encountered in passing the pile yarn through the reed and the harness eyes. However, when the pile wire is withdrawn, yarn I4 contracts and cockles, so that the pile loops or tufts expand and assume irregular shapes and thus afford unusually good coverage. The contraction of yarn I4 also causes the ends of the tufts or loops to lie in random positions. so that the pile surface has a rough irregular appearance and texture not obtainable in fabrics having a pile surface made of ordinary yarns.

'I'he excellent coverage provided by the pile in the new fabric makes possible the use of much less pile yarn than is ordinarily required. Thus, a fabric having a pile surface formed by conventional yarns may of 180 pitch, that is, have 180 ends of warp yarn in a'wdth of 2'7", and pitches of 214 and 256 are also common. Such a fabric may be woven with nine wires to the inch, so that, in a lineal inch of the fabric, there are nine transverse rows of pile loops, cut or uncut, and each yarn is raised between every two weft yarns in the upper level. A fabric made in accordance with the invention and of comparable quality can be woven with six wires to the inch and, although the pitch is 180, for example, the pile yarns are not raised in every space between a pair of weft yarns but in every other space, so that there are only ninety loops, cut or uncut, in a row. As the length of a pile yarn buried in the fabric and extending from one weft yarn to the next is much less than the length of such a yarn raised to form a loop between adjacent weft yarns, it will be apparent that the new fabric requires much less pile yarn than fabrics of the ordinary type, not only because of the less loops in a transverse row but also because of the less number of rows per inch. The new fabric is thus of attractive and distinctive appearance and much more economical to produce than conventional fabrics.

The fabric is shown in Fig. 3 as including pile yarns which have been raised as loops, after which the loops have been cut to make tufts I I, which have been sheared. Other raised portions of the pile yarns are illustrated as uncut and forming loops I1. The increased coverage afforded by the pile yarn in the new fabric, resulting from contraction of the highly twisted component I4, is illustrated in Fig. 4, where it will be noted that tufts I6 are produced from pile yarns which are not adjacent but are separated by a space containing a pile yarn I3a not raised at the point shown in the view. The tufts I6 have increased in diameter so as to cover the backing above yarn I3a.

The fabric of the invention, that is illustrated, is to be understood as merely typical and various other pile fabrics embodying the invention may be produced. All such fabrics are of the kind, in the weaving of which wires are used, and, in all instances, it is possible, without sacrifice in quality, to employ less wires per inch and less pile elements in a transverse row.

The pile warp yarn I3 of the new fabric is usually made entirely of wool or of a blend containing wool? However, novel surface effects may be obtained by using a synthetic yarn, for example, a bright rayon yarn, as one of the components of the plied yarn.

'I'his application is related to our co-pending application Ser. No. 154,172, filed April 5, 1950.

We claim:

l. In a pile fabric comprising stuifer warps. weft yarns crossing the stuffer warps in a plurality of levels, and binder warps crossing the weft yarns above and below at intervals across the fabric to bind the weft yarns in place relative to the stuffer warps, a pile made of warp yarns bound beneath weft yarns in one level and lying between adjacent spaced binder warps, the pile warp yarns having portions raised between adjacent weft yarns in the upper level to form pile elements, each pile element formed of one yarn lying offset warpwise from the pile elements formed of adjacent yarns on opposite sides of said yarn, each pile warp yarn being formed of a pair of singles yarn components plied together, one of the components being a. relatively dense yarn having a relatively high twist of the same kind as and greater than the ply twist and the other component being a relatively soft and bulky backtwisted opened-up yarn having a substantially lower twist than the dense component, the bulky component being wrapped spirally about the dense component.

2. In a pile fabric comprising stui'fer warps, weft yarns crossing the stutfer warps in a plurality of levels, and binder warps crossing the weft yarns above and below at intervals across the fabric to bind the weft yarns in place relative to the stuifer warps. a pile made of warp yarns bound beneath weft yarns in one level and lying between adjacent spaced binder warps, the pile warp yarns having portions raised between adjacent weft yarns in the upper level to form pile elements, each pile element formed of one yarn lying offset warpwise from the pile elements formed of adjacent yarns on opposite sides of said yarn, each pile warp yarn being formed of a pair of singles yarn components of approximately the same weight plied together, one of the components being a relatively dense yarn having a relatively high twist of the same kind as and greater than the ply twist and the other component being a relatively soft and bulky back-twisted opened-up yarn having a twist substantially lower than and opposite to that of the dense component, the bulky component being wrapped spirally about the dense component.

3. In a pile fabric comprising stuier warps, weft yarns crossing the stuft'er warps in a plurality of levels, and binder warps crossing the weft yarns above and below at intervals across the fabric to bind the weft yarns in place"rela tive to the .stuifer warps, a 4pile made of warp yarns bound beneath weft yarns in one level and lying between adjacent spaced binder warps, the pile warp yarns having portions raised between adjacent weft yarns in the upper level to form pile elements, each pile element formed of one yarn lying oiset warpwise from the pile elements formed of adjacent yarns on opposite sides of said yarn, each pile warp yarn being formed of a pair of singles yarn components plied together, one of the components having a twist of the same kind as and approximately twice as great as the ply twist and the other component having a twist much less than the ply twist.

4. In a pile fabric comprising stuer warps, weft yarns crossing the stuier warps in a plurality of levels, and binder warps crossing the weft yarns above and below at intervals across the fabric to bind the weft yarns in place relative to the stuier warps, a pile made of warp yarns bound beneath weft yarns in one level and lying between adjacent spaced binder warps, the pile warp yarns having portions raised between adjacent weft yarns in the upper level to form pile elements. each pile element formed of one yarn lying offset warpwise from the pile elements formed of adjacent yarns on opposite sides of said yarn, each pile warp yarn being formed of apair of singles yarn components of approximately the same weight plied together, one of the components having a twist of the same kind as the ply twist and so high as to cause it to cockle when relaxed, and the other component being bulky, having a much lower twist than the ilrst component, and wrapped spirally about the latter.

5. In a pile fabric comprising stuier` warps, weft yarns crossing the stuier warps ,in a plurality o1' levels, and binder warps crossing the weft yarns above and below at intervals across the fabric to bind the weft yarns in place relative to the stuiler warps, a pile made of warp yarns bound beneath weft yarns in one level and lying between adjacent spaced binder warps, the pile warp yarns having portions raised between adjacent weft yarns in the upper level t9 fori! pile elements, each pile element formed oi' om yarn lying eflset warpwise from the pile element: formed of adjacent yarns on opposite sides o1 said yarn, each pile warp yarn being formed oi a pair of singles yarn components plied together, one of the components being a relatively dense yarn having a relatively high twist of the same kind as and greater than the ply twist and the other component being a relatively soft and bulky back-twisted opened-up yarn having a twist substantially lower than and opposite to that of the dense component, the bulky component being Wrapped spirally about the dense component.

6. In, a pile fabric comprising stuier warps, weft yarns crossing the stuier warps in a plurality of levels, and binder warps crossing the weft yarns above and below at intervals across the fabric to bind the weft yarns in place rela.- tive to the stuier warps, a pile made of warp yarns bound beneath weft yarns in one level and lying between adjacent spaced binder warps, the pile yarns having portions raised between adjacent weft yarns in the upper level to form pile elements, each pile element formed of one yarn lying offset warpwise from the pile elements formed of adjacent yarns on opposite sides of said yarn, each pile warp yarn being formed of a pair of .singles yarn components initially of substantiallyr the same but opposite twists plied together with a ply twist slightly less than the initial twist inthe components, one of the compo- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,987,632 Nutter et al. Jan. 15, 1935 2,430,425 Jackson Nov. 4, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 314,521 Great Britain Jan. 30, 1930 500,301 Great Britain Feb.'7, 1939 A839,608 France Jan. 4, 1939 OTHER REFERENQES Carpets and Rugs by Beaumont; 1924; D. Van Nostrand Co. of New York; page 273. 

